Thunder Road
by Kris Morene
Summary: What happens when 'What happens in Vegas' is way too big to stay in Vegas? Will their friendship survive? Will they have the courage to reach for something more? Or will it all fall apart?
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue:**

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Abby slowly opened her eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight streaming through the orange curtains of the Las Vegas hotel room. The director had sent the team to Nevada for a criminal investigation conference, and Abby had presented a seminar on the use of plant DNA in forensics.

Wait a second... orange? The curtains in her room were green. Her breath caught in her throat as she took a quick survey of the situation. She was obviously naked, and from the way her body felt, she'd had a damn good night. But she was damned if she could remember any of it. She remembered being at the bar with Gibbs and the team, but that was it. After that, nothing. Her head was pounding, and from what she could figure, there was at least eight hours she couldn't remember.

She stiffened as she felt breath on the back of her neck, then relaxing as she recognized the scent of the person next to her. Her mind came to a screeching halt the next second as she processed what that scent meant. "Oh my God! Gibbs?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Sorry this has been so long between updates. These stories require emotional energy I didn't have to give them. I can't promise regular updates from now on, but I will try.**** Sorry this update is so short. I've got more planned, and the whole story outlined. I just don't have more time to write tonight, and I wanted to give you something. =) Thank you so much for reading!**  


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She was out of bed and in the bathroom before she could even process the thought. Leaning against the sink, slightly out of breath, she closed her eyes, feeling the cold of the counter. "Oh. My. God. I think I slept with Gibbs."

Glancing in the mirror, she took a quick inventory. Red marks on her neck and breasts. Bruises on her arms and around her wrists. A familiar ache below. Yeah, she had slept with someone, and given the evidence right outside the bathroom door, she concluded it had to be Gibbs, as she couldn't possibly see herself winding up in this particular situation any other way.

She grabbed a bathrobe off the back of the door. Well, this was going to be an interesting conversation. "Gibbs?" She peeked outside the door

"Yeah, Abbs." He was on the balcony, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, cup of coffee in his hand. He didn't turn to look at her. That was bad. This had the makings of an interesting and very awkward conversation.

She padded barefoot to the balcony. He handed her a cup of coffee, and she was pleased to note that it contained both cream and sugar. How he drank that awful black tar, she had no idea. "Thanks. Um...do you remember how we got back here last night? Things are kinda fuzzy for me."

"Nope." The coffee in his hand went down onto the table, and both his hands gripped the railing, the only sign that he might be less than perfectly calm about the situation being that he still failed to look at her.

"Gibbs! I don't remember anything. Can you help me out a little?" Abby slammed her hands down on the railing.

"Nope." Still no eye contact.

"Dammit, Gibbs. I feel like I've lost like ten hours of my life here! This is really starting to freak me out."

He shook his head. "Sorry, Abbs. I got nothing."

At that, she sat down in the chair, hard. She didn't realize until that point how much she had been counting on him to remember.

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**Author's Note:**

**So, what will she say? What will she do? Please hit the feedback button, especially if you're subscribed! I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the story so far and where it should go! I love hearing from you!  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Here's the update. All this really should've been in Chapter 1, since I hate short chapters myself so I hope it didn't bother anyone else, but this is how it worked out. Please let me know what you think. -KM-**

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It felt oddly surreal, standing here on his balcony, sipping coffee, her sitting here in her bathrobe. It was like some kind of farce of what ought to be a pleasant, intimate moment. He sat down next to her. "Abbs, all I remember is being at that hotel bar somewhere over there-" he waved his hand in the direction of the city center "and then waking up here next to you." He took a breath "And I have absolutely no idea what happened in between other than the terrible feeling that I somehow took advantage-"

He was cut off by Abby's laughter. "Not possible, Gibbs." He looked up in shock. She continued. "First off, even while drugged, people don't go that far against their nature. You would never, ever take advantage of me. If you think I don't know that your first instinct is always to protect me, you're more of an idiot than I thought."

He ran a hand through his hair, not quite sure how to take that. "Thanks. I think."

She took a breath and continued. "And second, I've kinda been wondering if I was the one to take advantage of you."

He shook his head, almost as amused by that idea as Abby had been. "Not possible, Abbs." Abby simply looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "Taking advantage means something you wouldn't want. You're a beautiful, intelligent woman, Abby. If you ever approached me like that...well..."

Abby paused as she absorbed that. "I always assumed you thought of me as a daughter."

He shrugged. "Didn't want to make you uncomfortable. Seemed better to let you think so."

She paused, and he could almost see the wheels shift in her head. "Oh my God, Gibbs! The bar! We were drugged!"

He thought about that for a moment. "Why?"

"We'll figure out why later! We're running out of time to find out what! I need to get to the crime lab! I have a friend who can run the test!" She dashed back into the hotel room and gathered her clothes, and he watched and wondered how her skirt had ended up on the lamp, chuckling to himself. Whatever had happened, his memory was apparently missing out on a damn good night.

Abby ducked into the bathroom and changed, and emerged dressed a few moments later, a stunned look on her face. "Gibbs?"

"Yes, Abbs?"

"Um...why am I wearing a wedding ring?"

He looked at her hand, and then glanced at his own. Oh shit.

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**Well, that's chapter 3. Chapter 4 will be up later this week. How will Gibbs respond to Abby's revelation? What will Abby do? I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas! **


	4. Chapter 4

******Hi, everyone! Sorry this update took a while. Life's been a little nuts, and I've also returned to working on my House fic "Hold On.". Thank you all for your reviews! I read and appreciate every one of them. You make my day with your comments, and I promise the next update won't be so long in coming. -KM-**

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**Chapter 4**

Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment, wondering what they'd done. Pushing down the sinking feeling in his chest, he looked at Abby. "We'll figure it out later. Right now, we need to find out what happened, right? Should I go with you?"

Abby thought a moment. "Probably. Whatever happened, it happened to both of us, so we should both get checked."

Locking the door behind them, Gibbs and Abby headed down to catch a cab to the crime lab. Once they arrived, Abby spoke privately with her friend, and then called Gibbs into the office. "Gibbs, this is Christina Parker, the senior lab tech here."

Gibbs offered his hand, studying the tech as he greeted her. She was petite, but he got the sense she was not to be underestimated. "Ms. Parker."

"Abby's told me a little about what she thinks may have happened to you two last night. I'm going to do a blood test and see if I can isolate the drug. We're working on a clock, so let's get to it." She ducked out of the office and returned a moment later with a vacutainer kit.

Abby paled slightly. "Um, Gibbs…you first."

Gibbs offered Christina his arm and looked over at Abby. "Afraid of a little blood draw, Abbs?"

Abby shook her head. "No…I do fine with needles and looking at anyone else's blood. It's the sight of my own blood that squicks me out."

Christina finished with Gibbs efficiently, changed her gloves and moved over to Abby, checking her veins. Taking the hand attached to the arm Christina wasn't currently prepping, he reached out and tipped her chin towards him. "Then don't look."

"But Gibbs…I'm afraid I'll flinch or something when I don't know it's coming, and…"

"All done!" Christina chimed, taping gauze over the puncture.

Abby blinked. "Wow, you're good! I didn't even feel that!"

"I'm going to go run this. I think I may know what we're looking for, so if I'm right, it should be quick. Wait here." She bounded out of the office with the samples, leaving Abby and Gibbs behind.

Still hanging on to her hand, Gibbs asked softly, "Abbs, I probably should've asked you earlier, but…" he stumbled over his words. "Are you on anything? I'm pretty sure we didn't use any protection last night."

She shook her head. "No. Hormonal birth control gives me horrible headaches, and I haven't been able to wrap my mind around an IUD. I'll go pick up the morning-after pill later today." She paused. "Thank you for saying something. In all this fuss, that was the last thing I was thinking about."

He looked at her intently. "You know, if anything happens, I want to know about it. And I'll be there for you whatever you decide."

She nodded. "I know. I would never keep that from you."

He slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Good."

Just then, Christina rushed back into the room. "I have your results! It's just what I thought! We've been getting a lot of these lately."

"Okay." Abby looked at her expectantly. "What is it?"

"Burundanga."

Gibbs blinked. "What the fuck is that?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, everyone! Sorry these chapters are so short... I have a very limited time to write, and I figured you'd want more regular updates than waiting to get it all at once. Please let me know how you feel about that, though, because if it's easier to read or something, I'm happy to wait a bit between updates and make the chapters longer. Again, thank you so much for your reviews! -KM-**

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**Chapter 5 **

Abby stared at Christina. "Gibbs, burundanga is really scary stuff. It's basically a mega-dose of scopolamine, but worse."

Gibbs looked at her blankly. "Scopolamine?"

"We use a synthetic version for motion sickness." Abby explained.

Gibbs took a deep breath. "Abbs, explain this to me. Slowly. Use small words. What is this stuff and what does it do?" He waited, trying to hide his impatience while Abby thought about the subject.

Finally, she spoke. "We know for sure that it makes people disoriented and causes amnesia. That's lack of memory." She elaborated, remembering Gibbs' order to use small words.

"I know what amnesia is, Abbs."

"Just checking. There are rumors that it…" She shuddered.

"What?" Gibbs barked.

"That in a large enough dose, it can completely subvert free will. Gibbs, we might've done anything anybody told us to."

"Why would someone tell us to put on rings and go back to the hotel?" Gibbs questioned, carefully avoiding the topic of marriage.

Abby shrugged. "No idea, Gibbs. It does seem like an odd thing to try to get someone to do."

Gibbs thought for a moment. "We need to let NCIS Las Vegas know what happened. They may have more information on what's going on."

"And McGee, Tony, and Ziva." Abby added. "That's going to be awkward."

"Ya think?"

"I'll print you out a copy of the results." Christina offered. "I ran a mass-spec, and the chemical composition of the drug you were given is identical to that in about six other cases. I can't tell you if it's the same person responsible, but I can tell you it's the same supply."

Gibbs nodded. "Thank you."

After a quick phone call to the director and NCIS Las Vegas, Gibbs made arrangements for the team to meet back at Abby's room at the hotel. Somehow he felt it would be awkward going back to his own room.

When the team arrived, Gibbs briefly outlined the situation, simply stating that he and Abby were drugged and neither could remember anything about what had happened the evening before.

"Probably something at the bar." Ziva speculated.

"That's what we were thinking." Abby added, looking away nervously. She shifted in her seat, unable to meet Ziva's eyes.

"Boss? Didn't you finish Abby's rum and coke?" Tony chimed in.

Gibbs shrugged. "Last thing I remember was sitting down with you all." He glanced from one team member to another, hoping they could provide more information than he and Abby had currently.

Abby shook her head. "I don't remember even ordering a rum and coke. That does make sense though, as we were both drugged with the same thing at the same time, and it is something I would normally order. I don't really drink that fluffy stuff."

"You finished the last half of Abby's drink." McGee volunteered. "Then she said she felt sleepy and you offered to walk her back to the hotel. You both left. I left about half an hour later."

"Tony and I left a few minutes after McGee. Tony wanted to finish losing his game at the swimming table." Ziva smirked at her partner.

"Pool table." Tony muttered. "And I wasn't losing."

"Not relevant, Tony." McGee attempted to shoehorn the conversation back where it needed to be. "Someone should go check out that bar."

Gibbs nodded. "Tony, Ziva, go."

"And don't eat or drink anything while you're there!" Abby added.

As they were walking out the door, Tony turned back to Gibbs. "Boss, is that a wedding ring?"

Gibbs shrugged. "No clue, DiNozzo. If I could remember last night, I'd tell ya."

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**Thanks again for reading, and please let me know what you think! How will the team react about the rings? What will McGee feel? -KM-**


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